May 13, 2014
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President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to Kyle White. / Getty Images

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor Tuesday to a soldier who helped save the lives of comrades while under fire during a 2007 ambush in Afghanistan.

"Today, we pay tribute to a soldier who embodies the courage of his generation," Obama said of former Army sergeant Kyle White during a ceremony at the White House.

On Nov. 9, 2007, in an area known as "ambush alley," insurgents attacked White and a team of U.S. and Afghan soldiers after a meeting with village elders in the mountains of Nuristan province.

Though wounded and knocked unconscious at one point, White treated comrades for injuries and radioed for help to evacuate survivors, some off whom attended Tuesday's ceremony in the East Room.

Six soldiers died during the attack.

Citing the closeness of troops in combat, Obama said, "This family was tested that day."

White, who left the Army in 2011 and now works at a bank in Charlotte, N.C., also had to overcome post-traumatic stress syndrome after his deployment ended. He is the seventh living recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a brief prepared statement after the ceremony, White said the medal is a tribute to his brothers-in-arms.

"Without the team, there could be no Medal of Honor," White said.

White also noted that he wears a bracelet with the names of his six fallen brothers, and "they are my heroes."

Speaking of White and others who served in the military, Obama said, "You motivate all of us to be the best we can be, as Americans, as a nation."